Clipper Nation Comes to the 661

Credit Jam owner Stan Ellis...he had us all going thinking he had secured an NBA D League affiliation with the Los Angeles Lakers. But in the end he actually agreed to a new affiliation with the Los Angeles Clippers, LA's other team and perpetual lottery participant.
The NBA D League announced the affiliations on Monday with the Jam V. 2.0, landing the Clippers along with renewing their commitment with the Golden State Warriors who for all intents and purposes has been a great parent club sending several players this way from the Bay Area of the last few seasons.
The Clippers though are new to this affiliation game. While being associated with the now defunct Anaheim Arsenal, the Clips didn't use their minor league team last season but promise to make Bakersfield a temporary home for their future stars.
While it's not the Lakers, the Clippers and Warriors have the possibility of adding lots of flair to the new Jam this season. While we won't be seeing Clippers #1 draft pick Blake Griffin anytime soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see Warriors #1 pick Stephon Curry spending at least a few games at the Jam-Nasium, given head coach Don Nelson's policy of not giving rookies a ton of playing time.
The Clippers however are the team that owner Stan Ellis told me has the potential to eventually be the sole parent club for the Jam under a new NBA-Hybrid model that see's NBA franchises controlling their D-League teams like an MLB club controls their AAA farm team.
If you ask me, the concept of a "minor league" team for the Clippers is an oxy-moron, given the fact the Clippers have historically played like a minor league team in the NBA, but that's in the past right? The Clippers would tell you so, Head Coach and GM Mike Dunleavy would sure hope so for his sake.
While the Clippers try to usher in a new era on the floor with Griffin and company, off the court they're trying to usher in a new era as well as a parent club in the NBA D League. Let's hope for everyone's sake that fans can actually tell the difference between the Bakersfield Jam and the "Big" club. It may be 2 hours by car to Los Angeles, but the talent level may be much closer.
By the way, the Jam are in the market for a new coach, can you see this want ad: "Wanted: Head Coach for Minor League Affiliate of the Los Angeles Clippers," could be a tough sell, even in this economy.

Jam Version 2.0

Bakersfield was introduced Friday to the newest version of our NBA D-League team the Bakersfield Jam. Yes the same Jam who less than two months ago said they were closing up shop, came out today and said 'not so fast' we're going to try this again.
And in trying this again, launching a new version of the D-League team on the same day Apple Launched a new version of the Iphone, the Jam have downgraded instead of upgraded, but downgrading may be the ticket. After playing in the 10,000 seat Rabobank Arena in downtown Bakersfield for years and averaging less than 1,000 fans a game, the Jam have made the humbling yet important decision to move the team to their new 'practice' facility on Norris Road.
An impressive facility that houses a full-sized NBA court, it was originally intended to be a training venue for the Jam unlike any other in the D-League, now it will become the home to the Jam, unlike any other in the D-League. Complete with an estimated 1500 seats the venue will be much quainter, much more "jammed" (no pun intended) and much more in tune with the basketball fans in Bakersfield.
As team owner Stan Ellis put it "there are 1500 basketball fans in Bakersfield, there are not 9,000."
A statement that no less took a lot of humility to utter, but the truth about not only the D-League support in Bakersfield, but the D-League across the country. Gone is the assumption that just because a team is affiliated with the NBA, it will succeed. Matter of fact the NBA toured the Jam facility and liked it so much, the D-League is sending two more teams to Bakersfield to take the tour, hoping that others will adopt the "Smaller and Smarter" business model for minor league hoops.
Hats off to Stan Ellis and David Higdon for taking this bold step. They've abandoned the costly over sized arena for a much more intimate fan experience, and as we all know with less availability comes more demand. This could end up working out very well for the Jam and for hoops fans in general.
It takes a lot of business sense and humility to admit your mistakes and take a step back in order to move forward, but I think the Jam ownership has taken that first step with a positive feeling that Version 2.0 will in fact be better than the original.